Seven's Day Off
by Batatinha
Summary: Team Seven's Sensei is later than usual, and the young ninjas are sick of waiting. They decide to have a well deserved day off...(SasuSaku and NaruHina)
1. An Idea

Hey everybody! This is my first fanfic EVER! Please be nice!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, suckas!

**Chapter 1  
**

It was exactly five o'clock AM when Haruno Sakura's alarm clock buzzed next to her bed. The now awake kunoichi groggily sat up in her bed.

_"Ugh... I'm supposed to meet my team at six... I'll just sleep in. Knowing our sensei, he'll probably arrive at eight... lazy old man..." _Sakura thought as she tucked herself into her bed. Just as she was about to doze off into a dream-filled sleep, she heard a loud, booming voice.

"Oh no you don't young lady! Get out of bed or you'll be late! No wonder you're not making progress in your training, you're as lazy as a sloth!" her mother yelled as she shooed Sakura out of her comfortable bed.

_"Moms are so bothersome... I'd like to see her train all day, then she would be the one to complain!" _Sakura thought with a grumpy look on her face.

Sakura rolled out reluctantly and dressed at a slow pace. Normally, she wasn't this tired in the morning, but she was up all night trying to learn some new jutsus so she could impress her beloved Sasuke-kun. She didn't make much progress, because most of the techniques she was attempting to master couldn't really be performed in her small room. Not unless she wanted to destroy all her belongings.

She took her time to eat her breakfast, said goodbye to her mother, and set off to her team's usual meeting spot.

As she was walking down Konoha's clean streets, Sakura started to think about what the day would have in store for her. When she would arrive, Sasuke-kun would probably be there staring off into the distance. He was usually deep in thought as he leaned on the railing of the bridge. She would probably be somewhere near him, trying to start a conversation. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto would make a loud entrance and yell, "OHAYO SAKURA-CHAN!" in his annoying voice, then he would call Sasuke a bad name, and she would hit him on the head. Eventually, their sensei would arrive, and he would make up another lame excuse for being late. Then their training would begin.

After a few minutes of walking, it began to pour.

_"Great... we have to sit around for two hours in the rain... Is sensei trying to make us all sick?!" _she thought as she tried to shield her head from the downpour.

_"Let's see... so far I only taught myself one technique... but Sasuke will HAVE to aknowledge me after he sees it!" _Sakura thought with a determined face, as she gave up trying to protect herself from the rain.

This technique in particular is very difficult to master, since it was jounin level. Sakura did not yet master it, but she could use it to an extent.

_"Hah! I'll be so strong that they won't see me as the little fragile girl that they need to protect! I'll be able to beat them up with my eyes closed!" _Sakura thought as her inner self kicked in.

She continued her walk to the bridge with her head up in pride.

When she arrived at the bridge, surely enough, Sasuke was staring off into the distance while leaning on the bridge's railing. Apparently Sasuke knew of the bad weather because he held an umbrella over his head. Sakura looked down at herself. She was soaking wet. She was definitly going to catch a bad cold. She walked next to her crush and shivered.

_"He'll see me all cold and wet and offer the umbrella to me! Sakura, you sly dog!"_ she thought.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun" she said with a sweet voice.

He gave her a small nod and continued to stare at nothing,

He never was the talkative one, Sakura thought to herself. He really needs to get out more. She can't remember the last time she had a proper conversation with him. They usually talk the most during training when he gives her tips on improving her fighting skills.

"Why didn't you bring an umbrella?" he said, still looking ahead of him.

"It started to rain on my way here. I didn't know it was going to pour." Sakura said, clutching her shoulders to keep herself warm.

Sasuke scooted over to her so she could also be covered by the umbrella, and didn't say another word. Sakura smiled.

_"HELL YES!"_ Inner Sakura shouted in her mind.

Sakura thought now was a good time to show her progress on her new technique.

"Sasuke-kun, I have something to show you-"

"OHAYOOOOOO SAAAKUUUURAAAA-CHAAAAN!!!!!!" yelled a familiar voice.

"Hi Naruto..." she said with a bored tone. _"Gah! He came at just the perfect time"_

Naruto is hyper. Very hyper. It's like he eats a heaping bowl of sugar every morning. He's also as loud. Extremely loud. Sakura and Sasuke are used to this, but it doesn't mean they don't mind it.

"Quit being so loud, idiot." Sasuke said giving him an annoyed glare.

"Quit being so sulky, idiot" Naruto said sticking his tongue out at him.

This has always interested Sakura. Sasuke lost his family, so he broods and is rarely happy. As for Naruto, he has never known his family and lived alone his whole life and yet he was so energetic and upbeat. That was one thing the girl liked about Naruto. Even though he is always happy and optimistic, he's still really irritating.

"Whatever..." Sasuke said, and continued to think about various things,

"Haha! I WIN!" Naruto said pointing a finger at Sasuke. "I make up the BEST comebacks!!!".

Sakura and Sasuke sighed. They both had one thing in commom. They both couldn't stand Naruto.

"Anyway, Sasuke-kun, I wanted to show you my new jounin level technique!" Sakura said proudly. _"Now I can prove myself to Sasuke-kun! He'll be all over me!"_

"Wow Sakura-chan!" said Naruto rather loudly. "I wanna see! Show me, show me!" he said enthusiastically. He was always eager to see a new technique.

"Okay..." She did a few complicated hand seals, and Naruto screamed.

Sasuke stepped back, looking a bit alarmed.

"Raaaaameeeen!" Naruto squealed. A delicious cup of ramen appeared in front of him. Naruto drooled. "Sakura, I really like your new technique!" Naruto chirped as he tried to grab the noodles. As soon as he touched the cup, it disappeared.

"Sakura, that's mean!" said a pouting Naruto.

Sasuke smiled slightly. "That's a complicated illusionary technique. If it is mastered, you'd be able to simulate entire enviroments, that you could hear, smell, and touch."

"That's right!" Sakura said looking proud. _"Yes! He loved it!"_

"You need some imrovement though" he started. "You should be able to have Naruto feel the illusion as well"

"Yeah... you're right" Sakura's pride went down a bit. At least he was interested.

"Wow! That's cool Sakura-chan!" Naruto said with a big grin on his face.

"Try it again, Sakura" said Sasuke who was now standing next to his teammates. "Make him able to smell it"

When it came to training, Sasuke can be somewhat talkative. It's probably the most interesting subject to him. He always works hard to get stronger and stronger. It wouldn't hurt for him to have a little fun, Sakura usually thinks.

"Okay, once again..." she performed the hand seals, and once again, a cup of ramen only visible to Naruto appeared in front of him.

"Yatta! I can smell it!" The blonde boy said as he salivated onto his orange jacket. He grabbed for it once again and it disappeared.

"You just want to make me suffer!" Naruto said with a big frown.

"Well, at least I made some progress!" Sakura said looking mildly happy for herself. She wasn't a great kunoichi, she admitted to herself. She could get so much better, but she's always busy trying to make Sasuke like her. She decided this was the best way to get stronger and to impress him. Just try to learn a new technique every week.

"Once more" Sasuke said to Sakura, "Try your hardest to make him able to taste it."

_"This is it! I will do it!"_ she told herself.

She performed the necessary hand seals, and concentrated her hardest. Again, ramen appeared in front of Naruto. Narutocould see it and smell it,and he prayed that she did the technique properly. He was hungry. Sakura knew he wouldn't be able to taste it, so she concentrated harder, causing beads of sweat to drip down her forehead. Naruto cautiously poked the ramen cup. It didn't disappear. Naruto squealed and picked it up.

"It's working Sakura-chan! It's WORKING!" he said happily.

Sakura was still struggling to keep the ramen as realistic as it could be. Naruto brought some ramen to his mouth, but it dissapeared before it touched his tongue.

"Whhaaaat?!!! Nooo!!!" Naruto yelled sadly. "You were so close!"

Sakura collapsed onto the floor breathing hard. Kunoichis had a smaller chakra supply than shinobis, and Sakura just had a small chakra supply to begin with. She made good progress though, and that was all that mattered to her at the moment.

"You should rest." Sasuke said, going back to lean against the bridge's railing. "You've used up a lot of your chakra"

"Right" Sakura said as she sat in a more comfortable position on the bridge.

_"I think I did pretty well...Sasuke helped me with my training, I gave Naruto his own ramen fantasy, and I'm getting stronger! This is the beginning of a NEW AND IMPROVED Sakura!" _she thought.

"Hey, isn't Kakashi-sensei later than usual?" Sakura said while looking at her two teammates.

"Sensei is probably on an important mission that he couldn't tell us about because it's top secret!" Naruto said looking excited at the thought of exciting missions.

"Yeah right idiot, I bet he's off somewhere reading his... _book_ and forgot about our training. It's happened before, remember?" Sasuke said.

Sakura remembered well: The three of them waited for at least 4 hours for their sensei to arrive, and they finally decided to go home when they saw their teacher in some tree reading his book. He took notice of them and gave them a quick apology and continued to read. Sometimes Kakashi-sensei can be really irresponsible.

"Yeah! That was a whole day wasted!" said Naruto. 

Then an idea hit her.

"Why don't we all go hang out today? I have nothing to do..." Sakura said looking excitedly at her comrades.

_"Yes! Then I can spend the day with Sasuke-kun! Yatta! But...Naruto will be with us too... Oh well, Naruto can be fun to hang around too. And since Naruto will be coming, there will be a better chance that Sasuke-kun wouldn't mind coming because he won't think I'm trying to make the outing a date! Perfect plan, Sakura!" _ She punched the air in triumph. "Yeah!"

Both the boys stared at her, which made her blush in embarrassment. "Uh...so how about it?"

"No thanks..." Sasuke said as he began to walk home.

"Hah! I knew the jerk wouldn't want to spend time with us! He's too sulky and dark to have fun!" Naruto said smirking at the dark haired boy.

Sasuke was Naruto's rival, but they were actually both good friends, it just didn't show much. He also knew that Sakura would be upset if Sasuke didn't go with them, so he tried to trick him into wanting to come.

"Please, I can have more fun than you can ever have" Sasuke said with a smirk.

Naruto pointed his finger at him. "Then prove it Mr. Misery!"

"You're on, dobe!" Sasuke yelled, and the three walked together, thinking about what they should do first.

-----

A/N Well, what do you guys think? Any tips?


	2. Preparations

Chapter 2

"...so where should we go first?" Sakura asked as she, Sasuke, and Naruto walked down the quiet streets of Konoha.

The three of them decided to spend the day together since their sensei was too lazy or too preoccupied in reading his favorite book to train them. They had been walking for about ten minutes and were having trouble thinking what to do first.

"Oh I know, I know!" Naruto said while jumping up and down with glee.

His teammates knew very well where he wanted to go.

"Let's go eat Ramen!!" Naruto yelled.

Naruto's obsession was unhealthy, it seems like ramen was the most important thing to him in the entire world. Everyday he tells his teammates about all the different flavors and how many he's tasted. Sakura wonders if that's the only thing he eats. Ramen for breakfast? Gross.

"Uh… why don't we go have a picnic instead?" Sakura suggested. Sakura didn't have any money and she didn't want to eat ramen in the first place. A picnic was perfect because she wouldn't have to waste money, and they would get to eat while out in fresh air.

"Ooh! Then I could bring cup ramen! What flavors? Chicken, beef, pork, lamb, deer, horse-"

"Horse?!" Sakura and Sasuke said in unison shocked at the idea of horse flavored ramen.

"Eheheh, I was just kidding…" Naruto said with an edgy expression on his face.

"Anyway, no. I don't want to eat ramen. Let's just go to my house so we can get the food and drinks. My mother wanted to meet you two anyway." Sakura said with a big smile on her face.

"_Yay! Sasuke-kun is actually going to come to my house! I hope Naruto doesn't break anything…"_

Sakura thought with a concerned expression on her face.

"_Yay! I get to go to Sakura-chan's house!!" _ Naruto thought. Naruto has had a crush on Sakura since he first came to the academy. He would always watch her during class as a small child, and when she caught him staring she would stick her tongue out at him. Then little Naruto would be on cloud nine for the rest of the day. Although, he knows very well that she won't return his feelings because of her obvious crush on Sasuke. So for their early years in the academy, Naruto would spend his day staring at Sakura, when Sakura would be staring at Sasuke, and Sasuke would be staring at… who did he stare at? Naruto often wondered if Sasuke has ever even had feelings for someone before. He often wondered if he even _liked _girls. Naruto would always chuckle at the thought. Maybe he'll test his theory later.

"_Great… I shouldn't be wasting my day like this, I should be at home training."_ Sasuke thought to himself while he walked with his hands in his pockets. It's not that he didn't like his teammates, he'd just rather work hard to become as strong as he can to avenge his family. He decided to go along anyway because he hasn't had fun for such a long time, and if he didn't go, Sakura would beg him stay, and Naruto would just irk him by saying he could have more fun than him. He considered them his closest friends… it's just most of the time Sakura's either fawning over him, or Naruto is making up stupid challenges or being noisy.

They continued to walk toward Sakura's home, and after about fifteen minutes, they arrived on her doorstep. Sakura had a decent sized home. It was about two stories high and looked very clean, unlike Naruto's home which was messy inside and out.

Sakura knocked on her door, and a tall woman with long pink hair wearing an apron answered.

"Welcome home Sakura, and you brought friends!" her mom said happily, welcoming them in. Sakura's mom could be extremely strict at times, but when there were guests over, she acted like an angel.

Once they were inside, Sakura's mother ushered them to sit on a big red sofa that was so soft you'd sink in and never be able to escape.

"So, you're my daughter's teammates?" her mother said with a huge motherly smile.

"Yes ma'am! Naruto said saluting Sakura's mother. _"Her mother will like me so much that she'll make Sakura love me! I have to be on my best behavior!" _Naruto thought with a big grin.

"How charming!" Sakura's mother said with a smile. "You must be Naruto!"

"That's right Miss! Sakura has told me _so_ much about you! All good things of course. I can see who Sakura gets her good looks from!" Naruto said trying to suck up as much to Sakura's mother as much as he could.

"Oh, Sakura! He is just DELIGHTFUL! And you told me you couldn't stand him!" Sakura's mother said to her now annoyed daughter.

"Mother!" Sakura yelled. "He's just sucking up to you!"

"Sakura, that is enough out of you!" Sakura's mother scolded. Mothers wanted to believe the compliments they are given at all costs. Sakura shut her mouth. She didn't want to make a scene in front of her friends.

Sakura's mother turned away from Naruto to look at Sasuke. "Ah! What a handsome young man you are!" Sakura's mother said to an embarrassed Sasuke, who was now sinking into the sofa's comfortable quicksand.

"Um… thank you…" he said uncertainly, while Sakura covered her face with her hands hoping her mother wouldn't say anything too stupid.

"You must be my daughter's boyfriend, Sasuke-kun!" her mother said giving him a little nudge on his shoulder. Sasuke looked very startled indeed.

"MOTHER!!!" Sakura yelled. She had done it. She embarrassed her and Sasuke. He'll never want to come to her house again.

Her mother chuckled. "Oh, I'm sorry honey, you always talk about how much you like him, I couldn't resist."

Sakura was furious, but she quickly changed the subject. "Mom, we're going to go on a picnic, and we need something to eat" she said, trying to draw her mother's attention from the boys.

"Well, why didn't you say so? You guys can go ahead and make your own sandwiches in the kitchen." Sakura's mom said as she helped the two boys out of the menacingly comfy couch.

Her mother put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"You're a sweet boy, you really are, help yourself to some cookies!" she said with a smile. She turned to Sasuke. "Now you take care of my little Sakura, I want grandchildren! Oh I'm just kidding, what's with that face?" she added when she noticed his face was red.

Sakura quickly pulled her friends into her kitchen to avoid anymore embarrassment.

"Ugh, guys, sorry about my mother, she can be a real-"Sakura began until Naruto interrupted.

"I think you're mom is GREAT!" Naruto said while climbing on the kitchen's counters and opening cabinets so he could find the cookies that Sakura's mom promised him for being a sweet boy.

"She's not as bad as you described" Sasuke said quietly. "My mother used to be the same way…"

Sakura was surprised that he just told them this little bit of information about his past. She'd never heard him talk about his family before, besides him wanting to avenge them. He must have gotten more comfortable with her and Naruto.

"Ah… thank you, that makes me feel better. Now, let's make some sandwiches!" Sakura said as she rubbed her hands together. She didn't want to stay too long on the subject. Sasuke might think she's nosy.

"Ooh! Ooh!" said Naruto climbing down from the counter with a jar of chocolate chip cookies. "Let's put cookies in our sandwiches!!" he said while shaking the jar around.

"Ew, no! That's gross! And you don't need anymore sugar, Naruto!" Sakura said with an annoyed voice. "You can bring some cookies though, if you want"

Naruto grabbed their picnic basket and stuffed some cookies in it. Sasuke foraged through Sakura's fridge and got out some wheat bread.

"Ew!!! Wheat bread! It's too wheaty!" Naruto said while sticking his tongue out.

"Quit being so stubborn, idiot" Sasuke said as he got a can of tuna and mixed in the mayonnaise.

"Ew! We have to eat _tuna!_ I don't want fish!" whined Naruto.

"Shut up! You're the one who eats horse!" Sasuke said while he put the two pieces of bread together, completing one sandwich.

"I was just kidding Mr. Darkengloomy!" Naruto yelled while he crammed a cookie into his large mouth.

Naruto and Sasuke would often fight like this. These arguments weren't usually serious. They often argue about pointless things such as what kind of sandwiches they'll eat.

"Guys! Calm down!" Sakura said standing between the two quarrelers. "Naruto, use your head for once! Just make a different kind of sandwich! Honestly, you two fight too much!" Sakura said while bringing out more sandwich supplies.

Sasuke continued to make his wheat tuna sandwiches, while Naruto took two large pieces of white bread, and began to put obscene amounts of mayonnaise on each one.

"So, where do you guys want to go to eat?" Sakura asked, while packing the sandwiches into the basket

Sakura sighed, "This is going to be a _fun_ picnic."

The three finished up in the kitchen, and they decided to set off. As they were leaving, Sakura's mom gave them her goodbyes.

"It was nice meeting you all," Sakura's mom said. "Naruto, you are a wonderful boy, and you can come over ANY time." Sakura looked horrified. "And you, my young Sasuke, you'll make a _fantastic _son-in-law!" Sakura's mother said while giving him a little wink. Sakura once again grabbed her friends and ran as far away as far away as she could from her mom.


	3. Sasuke vs Sexy No Jutsu

**Chapter 3**

The three genins set off to the perfect picnic spot Naruto spoke of. Fortunately for them, the rain stopped and it was a beautiful sunny afternoon.

"We're almost there!" Naruto said while swinging the basket back and forth while they walked.

"Good, because I'm starving!" Sakura said with her arms behind her head. So far the day was going smoothly. There weren't any major disappointments besides her mom feeding Naruto sweets and embarrassing Sasuke. She just hoped that Naruto's spot was a good one.

On the way, Naruto spotted a certain blue haired girl looking at the window of a shop.

"Hi Hinata-san!" Naruto yelled while waving at the timid girl.

Hinata turned around and a blush immediately appeared on her face. "H-hi Naruto-kun, Sakura-san, Sasuke-kun. Sakura greeted her and Sasuke gave her a nod. Both Sakura and Sasuke knew well that Hinata liked Naruto. Sakura thought it was a bit odd that Hinata favored Naruto, but she also thought it was adorable at the same time. Sasuke, though he did not want to admit it, thought her timid nature was amusing. Seeing her all red and playing with her fingers while Naruto was all up in her business seemed really funny to him. She should really tell the loser one day.

"Ah, Hinata, you should come with us!" said Sakura. _"Maybe if she comes with us she'll get more comfortable with Naruto, and if she's there, Naruto will probably talk to her while Sasuke will be stuck with me! Ugh… stuck isn't a great way to put it."_

"W-where are you guys p-planning to go?" she asked, giving Naruto little glances as she continued to play with her fingers. Hinata would do anything to spend her day with Naruto, she was just worried about how she'd act around him. She is constantly worrying if she gave away her feelings.

"We're going to hang out and eat some food… probably going to train a little bit too!" Naruto said happily.

"_We're going to TRAIN? I thought this was our day off!_ " Sakura thought to herself as she pouted.

"Mm… Okay, I-I'll come along." Hinata said as she did joyful cartwheels in her mind. _"Maybe… maybe this will be the day when I tell Naruto-kun…"_

"…Okay, we're almost there!" Naruto said, while he led the small group.

"Naruto, you said that twenty minutes ago," Sasuke said crossly with his hands deep in the pockets of his white shorts.

"Here we are!" Naruto said as he walked down a path connected to the road. As they walked down the narrow stone path, each of them took notice of the scenery around them. The path was surrounded by tall, sea green trees, leaving soft shadows on the road before them. A large variety of flowers were scattered here and there along the base of the trees.

"_How romantic!" _Sakura thought to herself as she picked up a small blue rose. You never know when a rose can come in handy.

They all walked slowly on the path to take in the sounds, the smells, and the feelings that they were experiencing at the moment. All seemed peaceful.

Eventually, they found a nice, clear, grassy spot next to a particularly large tree, and placed a soft black blanket on the comfy ground. Sasuke sat down first to rest against the dark bark tree, silent as always, as Sakura took her place beside him. Naruto and Hinata occupied the space in front of them.

"You were right Naruto, this place is… _amazing_!" Sakura said while taking out their food.I

"Told you!" Naruto said with a proud grin on his face.

They were all silent for a moment, as if all of them had lost their grip on their thoughts, until Hinata took a tiny bite of her wheat ham sandwich. For some unknown reason, everyone went back to normal again. They ate, and gossiped about the latest ninja couples, while Sasuke just closed his eyes and thought about other things.

Sakura and Hinata started to talk about love among the genins (and chuunins).

"Seriously, I know Shikamaru thinks all women are _troublesome_ but I'm sure he thinks otherwise. Do you see how he looks at that Ino brat?" Sakura said excitedly.

"Um… he usually gives her annoyed looks… " Hinata said, confused by the pink haired girl's speculation.

"Exactly! He's trying to hide the fact that he likes her!" Sakura said excitedly.

"How do you know he just _doesn't _like her?" Sasuke spoke up, also confused by Sakura's theory.

"Well, a girl can tell these things!" Sakura said, hitting her chest with her fist proudly, which made Hinata giggle.

Sasuke smirked. "Pssh" then he went back to thinking.

"So… S-Sasuke-kun… h-have you ever had a crush on anyone?" Hinata asked quietly, feeling a little daring.

Sakura was surprised that the timid girl asked such a question, especially to Sasuke-kun. Sakura was glad that she asked, because she was curious also.

Sasuke fidgeted with black blanket they were lying on, and looked up as if he were trying to remember something. "No." he said simply.

"C'mon Sasuke, you've _never_ had a crush on someone? Not even a _little_ one?!" Naruto said, while once again invading someone's personal space. Somehow the three genins had gotten on the subject of Sasuke's love interests (if he has any), which caught him totally off guard.

Sasuke shot him an evil glare. "Even if I have, I'm not going to tell you." He said while crossing his arms. Naruto was invading Sasuke's personal life, and both Sakura and Hinata knew that there was going to be trouble.

"Why won't you tell? Are you _embarrassed_ little baby Sasuke?" Naruto said with a smirk.

"Idiot, it's just none of your business." Sasuke said getting rather annoyed with the blonde boy.

"So you do like someone!" Naruto said, "Who's the lucky girl, or _guy_?" Naruto said with a chuckle.

Sasuke looked like he was ready to break Naruto in half over his leg.

"N-Naruto-kun… maybe y-you should stop…" Hinata said timidly, hoping that they don't' get into some sort of fight. She was the one who started all of this, and she felt terrible.

Naruto sighed. "Fine. Only because you're nice to me." He said while he laid down and closed his eyes. Hinata smiled very slightly. She made an impact on him! It was a start.

"_Heh heh, now's my chance!"_ Naruto thought to himself. He opened one eye very slightly to make sure Sasuke could experience his master plan.

"Sexy no jutsu!" Naruto yelled.

"_Note to self… Make sure Naruto is dead by the end of the day."_ Sakura thought as she covered her eyes, moving one little to finger to see how her poor, innocent, Sasuke-kun would react to such filth.

With a poof of shimmering smoke, Naruto's usual nude, pigtailed blonde appeared before Sasuke.

"N-Naruto-kun! What are you doing?" Hinata said looking somewhat disturbed that her Naruto-kun would perform such a vulgar jutsu.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan. I'm just testing whether this sexy stud of a man likes girls." She-Naruto said with a seductive voice. If this doesn't work on him, what will?

Hinata smiled. "_He called me Hinata-chan! This is a good sign! It is kinda odd that he said it while transformed into that weird lady, but… yay!" _

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, then returned to normal. He went up to Naruto and looked him (or her) in the eye. Apparently, he had a little thing called self control, and he wouldn't lose to Naruto. They stared at each other for what seemed like five minutes. Sakura and Hinata were just waiting for something to happen. Naruto blew him a kiss and did a little wiggle of the hips, and at this, Sasuke began to shake slightly.

"_Hah! I got him now!"_ Naruto thought to himself. _"_Sasuke-kun…" Naruto said in an innocent girly voice.

Sasuke's eyebrows were scrunched so hard, it looked like they would push his eyeballs out of their sockets. _"I… will not… I will not… let him win! I will n-" _Sasuke looked like he was trying to resist all he could, but at that moment a little droplet of blood dripped out of his left nostril. Sasuke cursed.

With a poof, Naruto turned back to his original form. He fell on his back and started to crack up. "Ha ha! I defeated the child prodigy!"

Sasuke wiped the blood off his nose, walked up to Naruto, and hit him on the head. Sasuke hoped he would never have to experience that again.

"Ouch…" Naruto said while rubbing his head. Sasuke went back to the blanket where Hinata and Sakura were sitting, and they started to giggle. He gave them a look that dripped with poison, and they both shut up. Then, being the girls they were, they started to laugh again.

"_Stupid idiot,"_ Sasuke thought, while blushing slightly as the girls continued to chuckle.

"So Hinata… who do _you_ like?" Sasuke asked giving her a little smirk. Sakura was surprised. Sasuke is a lot more talkative than usual. Both Sakura and Sasuke knew who she liked of course, but they wanted her to just finally admit it.

"I-I um… um…" Hinata said with a little frown. She was mortified. Should she reveal her secret? Or will they just make fun of her? It seems like they don't like Naruto very much…

"It's ok, Hinata-san, I won't laugh or tell!" Sakura said. Hinata trusted Sakura, but she wasn't so sure about the Uchiha. Sakura elbowed Sasuke In his side.

"Me neither," he said, giving her a rare, but small smile. Hinata looked around to see if Naruto was nearby. He was next to the river, trying to put some water on the bump that Sasuke inflicted on his tender head. He was out of earshot, so she gathered all the courage she could muster and…

"Naruto-kun… I like… yeah," she said with a huge blush. She was ready to hear their laughter.

"Good for you Hinata! It's only healthy to have a crush on someone!" replied Sakura. Sasuke nodded in agreement. Sakura obviously knew, so she didn't give her a disappointing reaction.

"H-huh? You don't think it's silly?" Hinata said, overjoyed that she had she had such nice friends. If she were to tell anyone else she was sure they would laugh. She was really lucky.

Sakura smiled. "Of course not! I mean, he can be a total weirdo…"

"Don't forget a moron." Sasuke cut in.

"Yeah… but that's not the point. He may be weird, but he really is a good person. I think you should admit your feelings! I'm sure he'll like you back!" Sakura said.

"_Sakura: Ninja matchmaker extraordinaire! Yeah… I like the sound of that." _Sakura thought.

"And if he doesn't return your feelings, I'll make sure to give him a good kick in the stomach. I still need to give him one for the weird jutsu… _Incident._" Sasuke said while he cracked his knuckles.

Hinata smiled. Even Sasuke-kun was backing her up! Not even the world's largest shoe closet could contain her confidence.

"Okay! I'll tell him!" she practically yelled for all of Konoha to hear.

"Tell who what?" Naruto said, while rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, u-um… n-nothing N-Nar-Naruto-kun."

A/N Thanks for the reviews! I


	4. The Next Destination!

Hey everybody! Thank you for the reviews! Geez, I can't believe I actually went this far with my story... Enjoy!

**Chapter 4**

Hinata hated herself. She never had the confidence to accomplish anything. Her little sister could beat her up, she was a disgrace to the Hyuuga family name, and she couldn't even admit her feelings to the boy she admires, even though he is considered a goofball and might be desperate enough to return her feelings. She may not be able to make her family proud, but she _will_ win Naruto's heart, and they'll hold hands, kiss, get married, go on their honeymoon, and- okay, she was getting a little too excited, but she was serious about the first part. After the young Hyuuga decided the deed was to be done, she began to shake all over. Everything was easier said than done.

"Hinata, are you alright?" Sakura called as she, Naruto, and Sasuke folded their picnic blanket and packed the leftover over food back into the woven picnic basket. Sakura felt a little sympathy for the girl, who practically had a nervous breakdown when she saw Naruto. It must be very hard when you're as shy as that.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Hinata said softly, getting up to help them pack their things_ "I will tell him! Either today or tomorrow! Or… in a week… or… never… No! I WILL!"_

"Uh… Hinata san, you're making funny faces," Naruto said as he waved his hand in front of her eyes.

Hinata snapped out of her mental argument with herself and blushed. She just realized that as she thought, her facial expressions repeatedly switched from confident to down, and everyone was staring at her.

"Oh…um sorry, I mean… uh…" Hinata began as she looked down in embarrassment, her eyes watery.

"_I'm always embarrassing myself!" _Hinata felt terrible, and desperately wanted to go home and have a good cry.

"I h-had fun. I should go now," she said quickly as she sped down the path toward the streets of Konoha. Sakura and Sasuke had a pretty good idea why she left so abruptly, but of course, Naruto was clueless.

"I just told her that her face looked funny!" Naruto said with a dumbfounded face. He really didn't understand girls, especially Hinata.

"Naruto, you Idiot! Are you really _that_ clueless!?" Sasuke yelled as he smacked the back of his head.

"Agh! What are you talking about?!" Naruto yelled at the annoyed Uchiha heir. _"He's been hitting me a lot lately…"_

"Whatever, let's go," Sasuke said, putting his hands in his pockets and walked back the way they came. Sakura followed behind him.

"_H_ow _cute! Sasuke feels sorry for poor Hinata! He's SO sensitive! Uh… I'm over exaggerating just a little bit..." _she thought to herself. Naruto walked behind the two genins, still a bit confused.

"Poor Hinata, she should really have more confidence in herself… If she won't tell the idiot I will!" Sakura said to Sasuke with an intense face.

"Well, we shouldn't worry about it right now… let's try to enjoy the rest of our day," he said simply while he looked up at the sluggish clouds. Sakura gave him a smile.

"Having fun Sasuke-kun?"

He seemed a lot more relaxed and comfortable since their little outing. Was it the fresh air? Was it the food? Was it her grandchild thirsty mother?

Anyway, it has been a nice day.

Sasuke brought his arms behind his head.

"Guess you could say that. Remember, I've had a few unpleasant experiences these past few hours," he said with a small smirk. Trying his hardest to stop himself from getting a massive nosebleed wasn't exactly a walk in the park. It also was extremely awkward to be in Sakura's house, especially when you're sitting in the sofa of no return.

"True, true," she said with a wise expression on her face. She turned so she could face both Sasuke and Naruto. "What do you guys want to do next?" she said enthusiastically.

"Ooh! I know where I wanna go!" Naruto said while bouncing around excitedly.

"We just ate! Are you that much of a pig?" Sakura said, hands on her hips.

"That hurt…" Naruto said with a tint of hurt in his voice.

"Well… let's think of somewhere else to go!" she said while placing her in

index finger against her lips in thought. "Aha! I have a perfect idea!" she said while throwing her fist into the air.

"Ooh, what is it?" Naruto said, eager to hear what her sure to be brilliant idea was. Naruto thought Sakura always came up with the best ideas.

She looked up proudly. "Sasuke, you think of our next destination!"

Both of the boys, especially Sasuke, were expecting a much better idea.

"Hmm…" he said as he began to ponder the day's possibilities. What did he do for fun? He liked to train… but that's what they're taking a break from so the idea was out of the question. He liked to play strategy board games… but that's not nearly exciting enough.

"Why don't we go to the beach? It's only about an hour away, and it's only two o'clock," he said. He didn't feel like coming up with anything else. He felt like swimming, and he's sure his teammates would find something to do that they would enjoy. He's starting to feel like the happy Sasuke he used to be. This day did him good.

"Sounds GREAT!" Sakura said happily. "I'll get my swimsuit!" she said excitedly as she sped home faster than you can say, "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." This was the best idea she has ever come up with.

"That is one _hyper_ kunoichi," Sasuke said faster than you can say, "man, staring at this computer screen all day is giving me a headache".

"Well, I guess I'll be going to get my stuff too. Let's meet in front of your house," Naruto said with a grin.

"Okay, dobe," Sasuke said, and he jumped ninja style in the direction of his home.

"_Still the same jerk as always,_" Naruto thought to himself as he walked toward his home.

Meanwhile, Sakura walked down the path to her home; smiling at everyone she passed by. She was going to the beach with Sasuke! Her fantasies have come true! _"Yay! Maybe he'll wear a speedo!"_ she thought with a grin. She came to her senses and shook her head. _"Sakura, watch what you think… you're NOT a pervert!"_ she thought, trying not to giggle. She knocked on her door, and her mother answered.

"Hi Sakura! Did you have fun with your little friends?" Her mother asked with a smile while taking the woven basket away from her daughter.

"Yeah, we had a lot of fun!" Sakura said as she stepped into her clean home. "Do you think I can go with the beach with them?"

"Sure honey! Just make sure you give your little boyfriend a big hug from me!" Sakura's mom said with a wink.

"_There she goes again with the whole boyfriend thing. If only it was true!"_ Sakura thought to herself.

"Er… sure mom… I'm going to… uh… get my things," She said as she scurried up her stairs to her room. She opened her dresser with the

picture of her and her team. She looked at all her available swim apparel.

All one pieces. Her mother said she couldn't wear a two piece until she was fourteen. _"Mothers," _she thought while she rolled her eyes and picked out a cute red swimsuit. _"I wonder if Sasuke-kun will like it?"_ she thought as she changed into her bathing suit put a sweatshirt and shorts over it.

Before she left her room, she pulled the blue flower she picked during their picnic and put it in a small vase next to her bed. It will be a reminder of their fantastic day. She sped down the stairs and began to walk out the door when her mother yelled,

"Sakura, do behave!"

"I will mom!" and with that, she headed toward Sasuke's place. She was assuming that they would meet there because he was the only one who knows the direction they need to take to get to the shore.

Meanwhile, Sasuke just arrived at his house, and walked into his room. Since he didn't really care how he looked, he just pulled out a random pair of swim trunks and put them on with a simple t-shirt over his chest. Just yesterday he was sick of his teammates, with Naruto's idiocy and Sakura's constant babbling. Now, he actually _wanted_ to spend time with them at the beach. Naruto was still really annoying, but he was always a worthy opponent, and he is a pretty good guy. As for Sakura, he noticed that she did not try as many silly attempts to get him to like her. He liked her much better this way. She seemed a lot more natural. He walked to his living his room and sat on his sofa, waiting for his closest friends to arrive.

At Naruto's humble abode, he was frantically searching for his missing swim trunks in the pile of mess he called home. _"Ah, where are they?! I just used them a few days ago!"_ he thought as he searched everywhere from his dresser to his bathroom. Maybe eating a quick snack would refresh his memory. He opened his fridge and pulled out a leftover sandwich, and voila! Right behind it was his missing swimming wear. How they got there, he didn't want to know. He undressed and put on the trunks. _"Cold!"_ he thought as he pulled on a shirt and left toward Sasuke's house.

Sasuke heard a knock on his door, and opened it to find his pink haired teammate. Sasuke wasn't expecting her to come to his house, considering that she left before he told Naruto to meet him there.

"Hi Sasuke-kun!" she said with a big smile.

"Hey," he said, and casually and invited her in.

"Is Naruto here yet?" Sakura asked, still standing near the door.

"Oh, he'll be here soon. Go ahead and sit down," he said gesturing toward a not dangerously comfy, but comfy couch. Sakura looked around at the room she was in. It was very clean and had a nice blue theme to it. In the corner of the room there was a large bookshelf, and there were many pictures on the walls. On the small coffee table in front of her, there was a picture of a beautiful woman with raven hair and pitch black eyes.

"Is that your mother?" Sakura asked as she leaned closer to see the picture in better detail. She certainly looked like Sasuke. He nodded and sat next to her on the sofa.

"She's pretty," Sakura said quietly.

"Yeah, " he said softly. They were silent for about five minutes until they heard a familiar voice outside of Sasuke's house.

"YATTA! TIME TO SWIM!"


	5. Sandballs!

Hey! Thanks for all the reviews, and I apologize for taking years to update. Well, hopefully this chapter doesn't suck. Enjoy :D

It was a little before three o'clock when the young team set out to the beach from Sasuke's small home. This was a very surreal day for the pink-haired kunoichi. First, they went on a picnic in the forest. It wasn't a big deal, they've been on picnics before, but it was only when their sensei took them on one. Next, she actually went to Sasuke's house, and he managed to talk a bit about his mother. Finally, they were going to the beach, and it was Sasuke's idea. He had seemed to loosen up a bit, but as they were walking to the sandy shore, he went back to his same old quiet self. Sakura knew it was a little too good to be true.

As they were walking, Sakura noticed that Naruto brought a huge bulging bag with him. She didn't know, and probably didn't want to know what the blonde boy decided to bring on their little trip.

"Hey Naruto… What do you have in that bag?" Sakura asked while trying to get a closer look.

"Oh, heh, just in case we got hungry…" said Naruto as he opened the bag while, surprise, little cups of ramen spilled out of the bag's opening like some sort of noodley waterfall. Sasuke was obviously annoyed by this.

"You moron, how are we going to cook at the beach! Also, we just ate a while ago!" he yelled while giving Naruto a bonk on the head. Sasuke regretted suggesting the whole fun in the sun idea. Sure, the picnic was okay, but now Naruto was just going to bother him even more since Hinata isn't with them anymore, and he bothered him enough when she was there. And to top it off, Sakura would be fawning over him and offering to rub sun tan lotion on his back.

"Oh yeah…" Naruto said with an embarrassed grin.

"Well, let's go then!" Sakura said with a jovial smile. Hopefully the two young shinobi wouldn't fight. The last thing they needed on their day off was a couple of black eyes.

As the young teammates were walking, Naruto decided to start a conversation.

"So, what exactly are we going to do at the beach?" he said with his arms behind his head.

"Y'know, beach things! Build sandcastles, lie in the sun, swim, play volleyball…" Sakura said. Odd, it's like he's never been to a beach before.

"Fun!" Naruto said with a big grin. "I bet I can make a better sandcastle than you, Mr. Angst!" he yelled pointing a challenging finger up against the Uchiha's nose.

"Yeah right, moron!" Sasuke said with a look that could kill. Sakura buried her face in her hands. This is going to be a _fun_ trip.

When they arrived at the warm and inviting beach, it was about three o'clock. They decided to look around to find the perfect spot.

"How about that spot?" Sakura said while pointing to a nice clear spot not too far and not too close to the salty ocean water.

"No, there's a weird fat lady in a bikini about one yard away from it," Naruto said a little too loudly while sticking his tongue out in disgust.

"Naruto! Not so loud!" Sakura giggled while pressing her index finger against her lips in a shooshing gesture. Sasuke smirked.

As they continued to look for the perfect spot, all three heard an all too familiar voice.

"HEY! FOREHEAD GIRL!" yelled the blonde kunoichi.

Sakura cursed. Why did she have to be here now, the day when she can spend some quality time with her teammates and melt Sasuke's cold exterior to find his inner squishy goodness? It was like she was in some cruel television show with annoying twists and upsetting conflicts.

"Hello Ino-pig…" Sakura said as she turned around to face her former best friend. The blonde wasn't alone, she was also with her teammates, the lazy genius Shikamaru and the "big-boned" Chouji. Shikamaru was lying on the sand, probably staring at the clouds, and Chouji was barbequing some sort of meat. Sakura sighed.

"Hi Sasuke-kun…" Ino said as she turned away from Sakura to gaze at the dark-haired boy with adoring blue eyes.

Sasuke made a small disgruntled noise of greeting towards the blonde girl. He couldn't stand it when Sakura would worship him, but he _loathed_ it when Ino bothered him.

Ino giggled and walked up to him and gave him a big kiss on the cheek while smirking at Sakura, who was dripping with pure rage. Sasuke turned red and jumped back and gave Ino an annoyed glare.

Shikamaru winced slightly. He wondered what all the girls in Konoha saw in that gloomy jerk. He obviously wouldn't make a good boyfriend, and he always has this angry expression on his face. Hardly attractive at all. Oh well, what did he know about girls' taste in men? He shifted uncomfortably on the soft beach towel. Maybe he was just getting all worked up because stupid Ino kissed him. _"Psh…like I care,"_ he thought while staring at a cloud that looked like a sailboat.

Sakura couldn't believe that the pig did it! Ino seemed to always be a lot more daring than Sakura. If she liked someone, she would just waltz right up to them and propose. Sakura sometimes wished she was as brave as the other girl.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sakura said angrily.

"Don't act like he's _your_ property, Sakura. Besides, if he were to pick one of us to be his girlfriend, I'm absolutely positive that he would pick me!" Ino declared triumphantly as she hooked her arm around Sasuke's , who was trying his hardest to escape her death grip. "He wouldn't like some _troll_ to be his lover!"

Sakura looked like she was about to turn blue with fury, and was about to open her mouth to say something when Naruto spoke up.

"Sakura-chan is _not_ a troll!" Naruto said angrily.

Ino smirked. "Sakura, why didn't you tell me Naruto-kun was your boyfriend? How cute!"

"Are you kidding! Naruto is not my boyfriend!" Sakura yelled loudly. She glanced at the blonde boy, and felt a little bad for acting so disgusted at the idea since Naruto's face has taken a hurt look. After all, he did defend her, right?

"What a shame! Well, anyway… Sasuke, if you had to choose, which one of us would you prefer?" Ino said seductively as she untied her hair and put one hand on her hip and one behind her head.

Sasuke was about to say something until Chouji interrupted.

"BURGERS ARE ON!"

Ino sighed as her stomach grumbled. "We'll continue this conversation _later,_" she said as she began to walk toward her teammates. "You can come eat with us if you want, I guess."

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto both shrugged and walked toward the other team's beach towel. Sakura scowled. She and Ino insulted each other, but deep down they were still friends… but when they were dealing with their favorite child prodigy, it was a different story.

"Hey Chouji, stop eating my burger," Shikamaru said in an annoyed voice while the chubby boy sneaked a bite into the lazy shinobi's meal.

"Sorry," Chouji said as he handed his teammates their food. As they sat around, Ino decided to bring up the previous subject.

"So, Sasuke-kun… Who _would_ you like to go with more?" Ino said once again with her sultry pose. Shikamaru sighed.

"Neither," Sasuke said crossly. Truth be told, he would much rather go with Sakura. He didn't _like_ her or anything, but she was a good friend, and he found her slightly large forehead kind of cute. Sasuke shook his head. He did not just think that. Anyway, if he answered that he would rather go with Sakura, the pink-haired girl would be overjoyed and would probably bug him even more than usual, so he decided to keep quiet.

Both of the girls frowned, and Naruto felt angry that Sasuke wouldn't even acknowledge Sakura, and would rarely treat her as a friend. "Sasuke, why are you always so mean to Sakura-chan?" Naruto said angrily.

"Let's go build sandcastles or something," Sasuke murmured, not wanting to dwell on the subject. Sakura frowned then got up after Sasuke so they could do just that. She always felt bad whenever he changed the subject when people tried to defend her. What did he really think of her? Would he even care if she was to choke on some broccoli and die? (It tries warns you with its disgusting taste!)

The two teams soon forgot about the whole ordeal as they sat down to do some old-timey sandcastle building. Ino decided not to build a castle since she thought it was too "babyish", and went to get a tan. Naruto started to work on his castle, but the dry sand kept on collapsing on him.

"Damn it!" Naruto yelled as he kicked the sandy abomination in Sasuke's direction, getting sand all over the Uchiha's perfect sandy civilization, with little rock and twig occupants. There was even a little sand hospital just in case a twig-person got stepped on.

"You moron! You nearly got sand in my eyes!" Sasuke yelled.

"You wanna fight?" Naruto yelled, "Bring it on!"

Sasuke poured his bucket of ocean water onto the sand in front of him, scooped up a handful of nasty mud sand, and threw it at Naruto's face. Naruto fell backwards at the impact. Shikamaru laughed and gave Sasuke a high five. Even though the Uchiha was a punk, he was all right, the lazy shinobi thought to himself.

Sasuke smirked, but a moment later a sandball hit him right in the center of his back. He turned around, getting ready to give whoever hit him a menacing glare, until he found out it was Sakura who hit him. Sasuke gave her a little grin as he threw one right back at her, getting sand in her pink hair.

"Hey!" she yelled, and picked up another one and threw it, aiming for his pale face. He dodged easily, but then got hit by another sandball from behind.

"Eheheh! This is the _second_ time I beat you today!" Naruto said with a cocky grin. He was about to throw another one when he got hit with another sandball, courtesy of Shikamaru, who was grinning widely

"Oh Shika-kun, I thought you were too mature to play these silly games!" Ino said while getting up from her tanning session. As she was walking to where the little sand fight was occurring, she got hit hard in the stomach with a soppy sandball.

"HEY! WHO'S THE WISEGUY!" she yelled. She was wearing a new bikini too! She looked around and saw that Sakura was guilty, so she decided to join in the fight.

"Ow!"

"HEY! NO FAIR! That one had a rock in it!"

"Chouji, no! Don't eat that!"

When they were all through, they all laid in the sun, breathing heavily after the epic battle.

"Okay, now who wants to go swimming?"

(A/N: I don't like broccoli, I like carrots :p)


End file.
